Pamela Schloesser Canepa's Blog, page 65

Weekend Coffee Share…Of Walter Dean Myers, bucket lists, baby goats, and writing goals.

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Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share!  Please don’t hate me because I live in Florida, and it will be close to 80 degrees today.  At least my iced coffee is pumpkin spice flavor! 

Finding Michael. #FFfaw #amwriting

Photo credit, (c) Enisa.

We were eighteen and his parents were tired of worrying.

The note on my step said, “I’m gone.  Hanging out somewhere guarded by two dragons.”  It sounded delusional to me.  His parents were used to his strange speech.  I hadn’t told them he may be reacting to my latest boyfriend.  Michael and I weren’t as close lately, so I felt slightly guilty.

Two weeks later he was still gone.  I enlisted my younger brother one weekend, scouring the town.

Great imagination, or maybe he didn’t want to be found right away.  Sure enough, two dragons were guarding the field where Michael was camping out.

A thinner, tanned Michael smiled and hugged me.  “I didn’t think you cared.”

“Ron may be a cool guy, but I can still care about you.”

“Yeah.  That’s good.” He put his arm down, but kept smiling.  “Thanks for being my friend.”

After all, I was still his friend, despite college and new friends manipulating my time.

I didn’t tell him about breaking up with Ron.

Story: 175 words

 

A prompt photo will be provided each Monday pm to be used as a base to your story. Please include photo prompt with your story.

2. Linking for this challenge begins on Monday pm and runs to the following Monday pm.

3. Please credit photo to photographer.

4. The story word limit is 100 – 150 words (+ – 25 words). Please try and stay within this limit.

5. Please indicate the number of words in your story at the end of your story. (It doesn’t count into the amount of words).

6. This is a flash fiction challenge (stories in 100-175 words or less) and each story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

You can join the flash fiction fun at flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com

 

 

 

Stream of Consciousness…Nov. 2017

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11-10-17

One idea after the other has flooded into my head today and I am not able to act upon a single one in completion.  Yet, that’s okay.  My brain is working, and I’m thankful.  I wrote an added chapter to my work in progress which

has opened doors and avenues for more ideas….

 

I met with friends who inspire me and nurture my brain, as we talk on one topic and then another which leads to even another.  Then, we decide on a general time frame for our next meet, all of which enriches my soul.

It is comforting to know there are many more ideas waiting to come to life when this current goal comes to its fruition.

To my delight, my doctor’s visit today included discussion about Quentin Tarantino movies.  Dark and disturbing, but nothing I’d walk out on.  Darkness lives among us.  We cannot run from it, but we can try to shine our light into its corners.  I also tend to take a muscle relaxer when it creeps up on me like some of those Tarantino scenes…They creep up on you and blow up immediately.  Case in point:  The Hateful Eight.

There is awe-inspiring literature still to be discovered, and though I am in between books, I am once again teaching the wonderful novel by Walter Dean Myers, titled Bad Boy.  At the heart of it is his struggle for identity, his longing to be a writer like Shelly or Byron, existing right beside his love for ‘playing ball’ and his increasing awareness that race and his place in society (back in his time) may not fit with his desire to write like Yeats.  His struggle for identity touches me.  Portions of this novel are very dark, but I can say that I have been there.  I went through that.  It had nothing to do with race, but more with my place in society, living in a mobile home park with a divorced mother who worked very hard to make ends meet.  Living with the memories of my dad as an angry alcoholic and later, talking with him on the phone, a converted stranger trying to get to know me as a sober dad, long-distance.  I never felt college was really within reach until my dad made it clear to me in 12th grade that I really needed to try it, and that he would help.  There were dark days where I trusted no one, lots of awkward social experiences,  days I had lunch alone (before I remembered to take a book everywhere), and bright days when I earned an A in College Algebra because I studied three hours the night before.  When I read of Myers’ dark days, I feel it.  There were times, as a teen, when I was cutting, thinking of suicide, or partying with other lost teens.  It is such a soul-searching venture to dig deeply into this novel.  It also makes me relive some of my son’s teen angst years, all of which is fodder for an entirely separate entry or story.

And then it is time to come back above water.  I know how it ends.  Myers finds his identity and place as a writer.  I am, as an adult, of the mindset that believes there is always hope.  I’ve found my place in society, and I’ve used the dark moments of my life to fuel my writing.  I am still emerging as a writer.  Maybe I’m a fledgling.  I don’t think I’ll ever rest on my laurels.  This makes me feel young, and I pray, pray, pray with all my might that my mental capacities will allow me to spin tales for years to come.

This is what’s on my mind lately.  What’s on yours?

 

Two Boys and a Boat. #amwriting #fridayfictioneers

Photo credit, Roger Bultot

(c) 2017 Pamela Schloesser Canepa

They had left while it was still dark, two sixteen-year-old boys taking off with Dad’s car AND his canoe.  It was their first boating excursion alone.

Reaching the water’s edge, Billy halted.  “The tide is too low.”

“You didn’t check the reports?”  Roma asked.

“No.”  Billy felt bad.

Roma, ever the adventurer,  said, “We’ll go through the brush to where the water’s deeper!”

Billy recalled being in there before, getting stung by bramble, and finding a dead bird.

“But….” He saw Roma’s hopeful face.  “Well, the road less traveled…”

“Yes!”  Roma smiled.

*100 words*

This was written as part of the Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields (more details HERE). The idea is to write a short story of 100 words based on the provided photo prompt.

To read stories of 100 words based on this week’s prompt, visit HERE.

Scream Reads! #instafreebie #group promotion #free

 

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Choose from eleven short stories that are sure to rattle your bones or raise your goose bumps!  Click the link below to browse and choose the stories that appeal to you, then download and read for free. http://bit.ly/SCREAMREADS

Most of the stories are through Instafreebie, a site where authors share some of their works to spread the joy of their writing styles.  You, as a reader, agree to sign up to their author newsletter.  Your e-mail is not shared with anyone else.  Most indie author newsletters are unobtrusive to your time.  For example, my newsletter gets sent out once every 3-4 weeks.

Your choices range from horror, gore, to paranormal.  Choose from all sorts of things that go bump in the night, tales of ghosts, vampires, Death, etc.  Enjoy!

P.S. My story offers Death as a character, as a dramatically disturbed young woman seeks revenge for the loss of her family.  Sort of has a Godfather/ Book Thief feel to it.  Try it!

Dreamin’ #poetry #dreams

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Image courtesy of Pixabay.

Dreamin’ (c) 2017 by Pamela Schloesser Canepa

 

I dream of a California

that is untouched by flame,

of wide open spaces to which

no one lays claim.

I dream of a body

that’s not slowed down with pain

Of waterlogged islands

that can be home again.

I wish for outdoor concerts

not ruined by gunshots

And long for a leader

whose conscience can’t be bought.

I dream of a nation

embracing its weakest.

Acceptance and love,

to those of the outer reaches.

 

I dream with wanderlust

for I just want to escape

The feel, and the touch

of this year’s landscape.

I dream of a future

that is better than today,

that is spiritually evolved

from the world of yesterday.

I dream, but is that all?

For it has to start somewhere.

I dream, I share my dream,

and I wonder, just who cares?

 

*The poet, Pamela, was born in California.  Her own experience with the year 2017 has been a little rough.  Watching the news doesn’t help.  You may make conclusions about her political leanings.  That is your right.  We are all entitled to our opinion, but I think we’d all agree, the world, our nation, our people, have suffered a rough year.  Still, we can always hope for a better tomorrow and dream of a better world. 

 

 

 

 

Squawk! #fridayfictioneers #amwriting

                  PHOTO PROMPT © Douglas M. MacIlroy

 

I should’ve known that bird would be trouble.

On the way home from the pet store:  “Hurry up Bi#$@!”

I jumped.  Why do I go for charming rogues?  He’d shown no signs of this tendency at the store.  Figures.

At home:  “I’m f*&%^g hungry!”

Geez, he reminded me of my ex, Wade.  We hadn’t spoken in years.  Was this a reincarnation?

This went on for weeks.  He’d eye me while eating his food, and blurt out “b*&^%” one more time.

No woman should put up with this.  I sold him for two bucks in a garage sale.  As is.

*100 words*

**To find out more about Friday Fictioneers or to post your own flash fiction, go to https://rochellewisoff.com/2017/10/11...  to preview the weekly photo prompt, rules, and guidelines.  Click the “InLinks” froggy button to share your own or to read other flash fiction tales.

 

Branching Out! #indieauthor #writergoals

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Last week I took a first step into the adventure of “going wide” as an indie author.  *Squeals with delight*  I’m nervous.  I don’t know how you market your books to Barnes and Noble and other retailers, except to tell others on social media.  I’m just now starting to use AMS ads on Amazon with regularity.  Still, I think this is worth a try.

My first published novella, Made for Me, a sci-fi romance, is now available at Barnes and Noble, Apple, Ibooks, and Kobo as well as Amazon!  Pronoun.com was the site I used to go wide.  I have to say, they made it very easy, and their formatting directions were easy to follow.  I also like the finished product!  So, I am considering taking the second in the series and putting it there in December.  Both books are novellas and don’t seem to draw as many readers in Kindle Unlimited lately.  It’s worth a try!  Pronoun will even notify me when I get a review, and if you visit my Pronoun author site, it even features my other books that are Amazon only.

For now, I plan to keep Detours and Time and the upcoming sequel in Kindle Select with Kindle Unlimited, as it seems to work with longer novels.  My next installment in the Made for Me series will also be in K.U. (Select) for the first 90 days, as I have lots of friends who use K.U.

Still, I am very happy with the service of Pronoun so far!  So, go check out my site!

 

Author Pronoun Site

What’s in Your Heart? #FFfAW #amwriting

“Daddy,  why is everyone sad?”

“We’re honoring those whose loves were lost.”

“But isn’t the world good?  Why did someone kill them?”

“That someone was sick, honey.  He meant them harm, but he didn’t have any reason.  All we can do is spread our love, so there aren’t many more like him.”

“If you could be their daddy, they’d all want to spread love, too.  They’d never want to do harm.”

He smiled, and knelt down to put his arms around her.  Perhaps he had been doing this parenting thing right.

“I wish Mom was here to show her love to the world.”

“So do I, dear.”  He stood and took her hand again.

“She wishes she was here, too.  She still loves us, Daddy.  She tells me every night when I’m in bed.”

He squeezed her hand, this wonderful, intuitive creature, who was already so much like her mother.

~150 words~

 

To learn more about the weekly Flash Fiction challenge, go to flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com

To see more of this week’s great stories, go to https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2017/10/02/fffaw-challenge-week-of-october-3-2017/

Thank you to Elaine Farrington Johnson for this week’s photo prompt and inspiration!

“Feather.” FFfaw Flash fiction. #amwriting

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Feather only bought the cheapest coffee, then loaded it with vanilla creamer.  We met exactly three times.

She was a college student of anthropology, which seemed to fit the long hair and equally long skirts.

That girl had big dreams for the world.  I was too busy deciding on Medical school or Sports Medicine.  I wanted to help people, but make money doing it.

We enjoyed ourselves that night we danced at the outdoor concert.  Her hair was silky and soft.  She said she was leaving for Brussels in the morning.  We danced a lot, and she let me hold onto her briefly, like the whole of our time together.

It was short-lived, but I still thank my friend Roma to this day for introducing us.  I don’t know where he found her, but if anyone could find a rare gem like that, it was Roma.

~The End~

*146 words*

Guide for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers

A prompt photo will be provided each Monday pm to be used as a base to your story. Please include photo prompt with your story.
Linking for this challenge begins on Monday pm and runs to the following Monday pm.
Please credit photo to photographer.
The story word limit is 100 – 150 words (+ – 25 words). Please try and stay within this limit.
Please indicate the number of words in your story at the end of your story. (It doesn’t count into the amount of words).

Find other guidelines and add the link for your story to the Inlinkz button at flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com and while there, visit and comment on some of the other stories!